IF IT’S KA IT WILL COME LIKE THE WIND
by Akane5
Summary: A Dark Tower Fic. The katet was destined to meet a warrior of the White on another level of the tower. If Ka wills it please review. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated.
1. The Meeting of the White

Disclaimer:

I do not own Roland nor any piece of The Dark Tower Series. Stephen King has that honor. The story might have a few spoilers (books 1-6), so read at your own discretion. You have been fairly warned.

**Chapter 01 – The Meeting of the White**

On a dark street in a strange world a young lady was in a lot of danger. By the looks of her she couldn't have been more than thirty. Her sandy brown hair fell over her face, sweat ran down her brow. Gruff looking men were holding her arms on either side. They had her trapped. The man on the left was short and bulky, while the man on the right was tall and gangly. Standing in front of the young lady was another man holding a knife to her throat. This man was by far the most threatening. He was muscular, tall, and had too many tattoos to count, the most distinctive of which was a growling cougar on his right bicep. All three men wore red bandanas, wife beaters, and baggy jeans. The knife man leaned in close and the young lady could smell his rancid breath. She was breathing heavily herself. The bosom beneath her black shirt rose and fell in rapid succession. She needed a way out, anything.

Then amazingly, before the knife man could make his demand, something distracted the ruffians. It's hard to describe. All their attention was suddenly focused on something happening just to the right of them. They were only distracted for a few seconds, but it was all she needed. The women kicked the knife out of the first guy's tattooed hand and a roundhouse kick to the face knocked him on his back. Then, before the others could react she did a split kick, which hit both the men holding her arms in their respective groins. This was enough to make them loosen their grips on her. She turned to run but was stopped dead in her tracks. Paralyzed was more like it. Right in her path a group of people appeared as if from nowhere. No, appeared was not the right word, _materialized_ seemed more appropriate. She was speechless.

As Roland's ka-tet entered this strange world they witnessed a crime in progress. Before they were fully _there_ something unexpected happened. The woman with the knife to her throat overpowered the men assaulting her and then found herself face to face with the ka-tet. Roland felt déjà vu the instant that he saw her, but didn't know why. This woman wearing a black v-neck t-shirt, blue jeans, and tennis shoes immediately captured everyone's attention. Her waist-length hair still hung in her face and her breath was still too fast.

The entire group felt the power of the White in her presence. They were in awe of her, just as she was in awe of them. The young woman was still immobilized by her witness of their arrival when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Roland drew his gun and just as quickly put the gun back in its holster. The woman looked behind her where the three men were still lurking. The one who had been holding the knife was now holding his wrist with an agonized look on his face. The knife lay glimmering and forgotten in the gutter. Then all three of the would-be assailants fled in the opposite direction of the group, one leaving his scarlet bandanna behind.

The woman still speechless, looked back at Roland with wide eyes. Not a look of fear, but one of disbelief. Roland gazed back at this lovely woman with his pale blue eyes, still trying to figure out how he knows her. Jake was the one who finally broke the silence. "Wow you were so cool!" Jake exclaimed, sounding like the little boy he hadn't felt like in a very long time. "OOl." Oy barked, his bright eyes looking up at the group's new friend. This brought a smile to the lady's face and she went from lovely to beautiful. Her breath had finally slowed to a normal rhythm. "What an interesting do-" the young lady started, but did not quite finish that thought. As she was speaking she realized that it wasn't quite a dog, at least, not any kind of dog that she had ever seen. At the same time it did look strangely familiar. Her confusion didn't stop Oy from stretching out his long neck in order to be petted by his new friend.

"He's right shug, very impressive." Susannah commented. "I'm Susannah Dean, this is my husband Eddie, that's Jake and Oy, and the sharpshooter over there is our _dinh_ Roland of Gilead.

_Dinh_, she had never heard that word before but somehow knew what it meant just the same. Her gray smoky eyes once again focused on Roland. Another smile lit her face as she fought against the shock that was trying to take over her body and mind. "My name is Sharon Delvian, I was on my way home. I teach Judo at a dojo about three blocks from here." Roland did not know what Judo was, but he figured it had something to do with her hand-to-hand combat skills.

"Cool." Jake breathed, obviously taken with the young lady. "Long days and pleasant nights sai Delvian." Roland affirmed, never taking his eyes off of her. "Please, just call me Sharon."

"Sharon." Roland obliged. "May we come with you, we should go somewhere else before we draw too much attention to ourselves. We must palaver." Roland's voice was gentle yet firm.


	2. Roland's Journey

Chapter 02 – Roland's Journey 

Sharon escorts the gunslingers to her modest two-bedroom apartment. Decorations here are minimal. In the living room there are two cedar bookshelves against the back wall. Every shelf is lined with books, most of the dog-eared paperbacks were authored by a man named Stephen King. There is a plain looking couch and matching loveseat against the adjacent wall. Eddie picks Susannah up out of her wheelchair and puts her on the couch next to him. Roland joins them while, Jake and Oy take the loveseat. Sharon sits on the coffee table across from the group. She slides back and crossed her legs, nearly knocking over the only decorative item in the room. Sharon easily caches the petite clear glass vase with the single wild rose in it and pushes it to the left side of the table absentmindedly. She is still stunned over their abrupt meeting, Sharon would never invite strangers to her home under normal circumstances. "I feel like I've met you somewhere before." Sharon said, now once again looking at Roland.

"Aye miss. I'd set my watch and warrant on it. You are clearly a warrior of the White. Ka has brought us here for a reason." Roland stated.

"Ka? Where have I heard that before?" Sharon wondered. The tet was unusually quiet as Sharon walked over to one of her bookshelves and picked up a book entitled Roland's Journey. It was a thick hardcover written by Richard Ivan Freeburg. _Nineteen_. The jacket of the book was a dark menacing shade of red with a silhouette of a gunslinger on the front cover. The silhouette looked remarkably like Roland. Sharon silently handed Roland the book and his hand trembled slightly as he reached for it. Roland couldn't explain what he was feeling at that moment, but it was difficult for him touch the book. He hesitated, the dry twist in his legs and hip ached more than ever. The ka-tet watched him intently, not sure what was happening. Then Roland focused all his energy on grabbing the book. As Roland reached out and touched it the book flew across the room and opened. Oy barked and Jake walked tentatively toward the book. To his dismay he saw a picture of Roland leaning over the cliffs of the Cyclopean Mountains holding his hand. As Jake approached the book the pages flipped on their own. Jake saw Roland let go and was paralyzed, helpless as he watched himself fall to his death in the book. Oy kept barking. Eddie got to Jake just in time to see the Jake in the book hit the bottom of the deep river chasm. Eddie knew the story, but seeing it first hand took his breath away. Eddie caught Jake by the shoulders just as his knees gave out. Roland didn't have to see the book to know what it was showing. He looked away. He loved Jake and seeing him in pain like this was almost too much to bear. When the book began to flip pages again Roland did look. A message in red (_blood_) ink appeared squalled on two of the books middle pages. "Abandon your quest gunslinger, the tower will fall." Roland stood up and examined the message. Sure enough the sigul of the crimson king, a bleeding eye, was stamped at the bottom of the right-hand page. The book slammed shut and that same menacing eye replaced the silhouette of the gunslinger on the cover.

The group had had enough and decided to move into the kitchen, leaving the book undisturbed on the floor. "Coffee anyone?" As Sharon started coffee and dinner no one knew where to start. Jake had gone completely pale. He was holding Oy in his lap stroking his fur. Even Eddie was inexplicably quiet. Roland looked agitated, edgy. He was pacing the floor in the small kitchen. Sharon opened the drawer beneath the coffee pot and looked at Roland. Roland walked over and peered in. The drawer was empty save for some rolling papers and fresh tobacco. "I don't even smoke, but something told me to buy them." Sharon smiled shyly as she said this and the slightest blush warmed her cheeks. "Say thankya." Though no smile touched his lips, his eyes lit up and they spoke plenty.

By the time the coffee was ready Jake had gotten some of his color back and Roland had smoked two cigarettes. Sharon passed around cups of coffee and put a dish on the floor for Oy. Dinner was ready shortly thereafter. Everyone made small talk over the coffee and food. Eddie cracked his stupid jokes, and Roland did not object. After what had happened in the living room the group needed something to lighten the mood. Regardless, Roland was lost in his thoughts. He had felt the evil energy from the book before he touched it. But how did it make its way into the presence of the White?

After dinner the real palaver began and continued on for several hours. Susannah started with the question that was burning on everyone's mind. "Shug, where did you get that book?" Sharon began recounting the story of how she acquired the unusual tome. According to Sharon the book was the only thing in the apartment when she moved in. "It was laying smack dab in the middle of the living room." Since she loves reading (as evidenced by the numerous books in the living room) Sharon just added the book to her collection and put it on one the bookshelves. "One day when I came home from work the book lay open on my coffee table. I walked over to it and felt as though I was being sucked in. I saw what happened in Gilead, Mejis, Lud, and the Cyclopean Mountains, to name a few. It was like I was there but no one could see me."

"You went todash." Eddie added. "That's right isn't Roland?" "I wot." Roland replied without much interest. Eddie began to get worked up. "But how can a book send you todash Roland? I thought only muffin-balls and wizard's glass could do that." Roland gave Eddie an irritated look. "Perhaps they have wizard's _books_ in this world Eddie. Now for your father's sake let her talk." Roland was much more interested in the rest of Sharon's tale than whether or not she went todash. Eddie opened his mouth to tell Roland that his world indeed does have wizard and witches books, but thought better of it and kept quiet.

Sharon was completely confused. "Muffin-balls? Todash? What are you talking about?" Roland, annoyed by the tangent Eddie had set them on is the one who replied. "Todash is what I believe happened to you when the book 'sucked you in' as you described it. The rest is unimportant." Then he made a twirling gesture with his right hand, which seemed to indicate 'go on' or 'hurry up', and Sharon could see that Roland was missing some fingers.

"Did you hear the chimes?' Jake wanted to know. Roland gave him the same irritated look he had given Eddie, but said nothing.

Sharon thought for a minute. "Now that you mention it, I did hear something. Bells or chimes? I'm not really sure. They were beautiful, and somehow terrible at the same time."

Sharon looked at her guests and continued her story, sensing Roland's impatience. "I saw you, all of you. I didn't know if any of it was true, but judging by the look on Jake's face when he saw the book, I'd say it was." Jake's face worked into a brief grimace but he said nothing. Sharon persisted, "Honestly I had forgotten all about the book and what it showed me until I saw all of you on the street. That's when the memories of the book slowly started coming back to me." Sharon looked around slowly at each and every one of them before she went on.

"When I came out of the book that day it was like waking from a dream. One minute I was in your world and the next minute I'm on my couch and the book is back on the bookshelf completely undisturbed. I thought it really was a dream, either that or I was going crazy. I opted to believe the former. Anyway, everything that I had seen was fading just as quickly as it had come. My eyes were drawn to the book. I wanted to go to and pluck it off the shelf but for some reason I couldn't make myself touch it. By this time the events from the book had completely faded from memory. I was in a cloud of confusion and I was completely exhausted. All I wanted to do was get into bed and sleep for the rest of the day. As I got up to go to my room the author of that book, somehow caught my eye. I remember thinking that there was something unusual about his name. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I'm sure that I had never heard of Richard Ivan Freeburg until that very moment."

"Nineteen." Jake added in a forlorn voice.

"What?"

"Nineteen," Jake repeated, "the number of letters in his name. It's something that's been showing up a lot lately."

"Nineteen." Sharon tasted the word in her mouth and did not know what to make of it, but it felt right.

"Sharon what do you know about the author, this Richard Ivan Freeburg?" Roland asked.

"I looked him up after, well, after my visit to your world. I could only find out two pieces of information about this guy."

"Let me guess he's a psychic headliner in Vegas!" Eddie interrupted. Roland shot him a piercing glance that shut him up immediately. Then he looked back at Sharon and made that twirling gesture with his hand.

"First, this guy is thirty-five years old. Second, he's holding a book signing upstate tomorrow."

Silence, as everyone looked at each other astonished. "That's why we're here! We _have_ to go to that book signing!" Eddie cried as he stood up. "I agree Eddie, sit down. Our palaver is not done." As Eddie sat down, Roland calmly turned to Sharon. "Where is this signing, can you take us there?"

"It's at a bookstore called The Magic Crimson Café in Fresno. That's about a three or four hour drive from here. Of course I can take you guys, I had planed on going myself anyway, just to get a look at this guy. Although, my car is a compact so it might be crowded in the back." Sharon smiled uneasily at the gunslingers around her table who looked more on edge than ever. "If we're going to make it on time I think we'd all better get some rest. Let me show you to your rooms."

Sharon showed Eddie and Susannah to the guest room and showed them where they could wash up. "Roland, you and Jake can stay in my room. I'll sleep on the couch." "Oy too?" Jake wondered. "Of course, Oy too." As Sharon turned to leave Roland gently grabbed her arm. "Nay lady, I cannot displace a woman from her own bed." Roland's touch was warm, though his hands were heavily calloused. "I told you, call me Sharon and it's really no trouble." Sharon protested, but Roland's chivalry was stronger. His grip tightened slightly around Sharon's muscular forearm, he met her eyes with his. "Nay Sharon. I will not hear it. Jake and I will sleep on the couch and the loveseat." Jake looked up at Roland and said nothing. Sharon realized that arguing was futile and got out blankets and pillows for the two. Then she came back with a large pillow for Oy who licked her face in thanks. Sharon went into her bedroom and decided to take a shower. Her brain was on overload. Sharon hadn't even begun to process the events that just took place. The entire evening seemed like a dream in progress. Had she really been assaulted on the street before the gunslingers showed up? Was Roland really in her living room right now? Were any of them really here? What a night! So many emotions came to the surface at once. Sharon sat down at the bottom of the shower and hugged her knees. She was partially in shock; her brain was overwhelmed. There was another part of her however; one that knew her life would never be the same again. Sharon knew that she was destined to fight with these gunslingers, for good or for ill. It was destiny (_Ka_). _All things serve the beam_.

Roland heard the shower running and once again tried to figure out how he knew Sharon Delvian. Who did she remind him of? Sharon Delvian. Sharon Delvian. Her name swirled around and around in his head. Roland closed his eyes and for a split second he saw what Sharon must look like in the shower. Who is she? Who _was_ she? Sharon Delvian. S.D. S.D… Roland drifted off to sleep with these thoughts still in his head. Roland dreamt of his youth, the good times in Mejis. Good times with Susan. Susan Delgado. Roland and Susan were in the Willow Grove, they were making love. Roland was full of bliss, he loved her. Susan's warm body together with his, it felt right. He had never been happier, more alive, than he was at that moment in time. He looked into her face, but the face he saw was Sharon's. Sharon. Susan. They looked remarkably similar. Her eyes. There was something in Sharon's eyes that told a deeper story. One of innocence, pain, death, and love. But there was another element. Rebirth. Roland was sure of it. _Ka is a wheel_. Sharon and Susan are one and the same, they just reside on different parts of the wheel. Roland awoke in a cold sweat with the assurance of this truth. Sharon's gray eyes still burned into his memory. He wasn't ready for this.


	3. Destiny

**Chapter 03 - Destiny**

Roland was wide-awake, he decided to go into the kitchen and roll himself a smoke. Roland looked over at Jake asleep on the loveseat. Oy was at his feet, they slept easy and they slept deep. Roland skulked quietly by. Roland knew that time for sleeping easy would soon be coming to an end for Jake and he did not want to wake him. Roland got to the kitchen and rolled a smoke. Sharon's eyes still burned in his mind. A slight smile touched Roland's lips as he took a drag on the crudely made cigarette. _Susan, who knew I'd meet you here of all places_.

Sharon woke up the next morning from an uneasy sleep. Though she couldn't remember her dream, the feeling lingered. The feeling was heartbreak. Sharon couldn't make sense of it, she had never been in love before. Most dreams were meaningless weren't they? Well Freud may not agree, but nuts to him. What does a misogynist drug addict know about the human mind (_heart_) anyway? Sharon stayed in bed for a few moments longer. Destiny. _Ka_. It was coming, coming like the wind.

When Sharon opened her bedroom door she found Eddie, Susannah, and Roland drinking coffee at the kitchen table. Jake was still asleep on the loveseat. Sharon, still in her yellow pajama pants and camisole, joined the others in the kitchen and helped herself to the freshly brewed coffee. "I hope you don't mind, I helped myself to your coffee maker." Eddie said looking up from his cup. "Not at all." Sharon replied and covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she yawned. "Tired shug?" Susannah inquired. Sharon smiled. "Yeah, I have a feeling that we are in for quite an adventure."


	4. There Are Other Worlds Than These

**Chapter 04 - There Are Other Worlds Than These**

After breakfast the group hit the road. Sharon was right; it was a little crowded in the backseat of her car. Crowded but manageable. It was just so nice to travel by car again, Eddie thought. Nice to not have to travel by foot for once. Sharon's car was a 1988 silver Toyota Camry. Apparently it got good gas mileage and the ride was smooth. Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy sat in the back, while Roland rode shotgun. Oy's nose was pressed against the window, obviously interested in the passing scenery. The look on Roland's face was almost identical to Oy's. Roland had both hands pressed against the glass and had a look of sheer wonderment on his face. It was comical really, like a kid on Christmas. Sharon couldn't help but smile to herself as she drove on toward Fresno.

As they drove onward Eddie asked the question it didn't occur to any of them to ask earlier, just _where_ and _when_ were they anyway? Sharon informed them that they were in Los Angeles, California, 1990. "1990!" Susannah could hardly believe her ears. So this is what the future looked like.

Sharon drove on and on, every now and then stealing glances at Roland. Eventually he settled in and was able to take his face away from the side window. Roland had a light smile on his face. He smiled easier these days it seemed. Roland looked at Sharon as she drove. The more he looked, the more Susan he saw in her. Her gentle mannerisms. Her hair. Her eyes. Especially her eyes. But there were differences too. Sharon was stronger than Susan, physically at least. If only Susan had known this 'Judo', perhaps she would not have met such an untimely end. Roland looked out the window without any of his previous interest. His thoughts would not leave him. He didn't even hear Eddie's endless jokes or Jake's laughter from the backseat. Could Judo really have saved Susan? Or perhaps… Is this what death does to a person? Can death make you stronger? How many times did I have to die in how many other worlds before I became the killer I am today? Perhaps this thought plagued him the most. _There are other worlds than these_. Roland continued to muse these ideas, now completely ignoring the novel scenery, which had captivated him so fully during the onset of their journey.

Sharon pulled into a rest stop just outside Bakersfield. Roland stayed in the car while the others got out to stretch and use the facilities. He watched as Sharon showed Jake some Judo moves. Jake was obviously taken with her, but then again, who wouldn't be? Eddie came around the corner of a petite brick building and told Jake not to quit his day job. Pretty soon they were on the road again. The closer they got to Fresno, the more certain they all were that something evil (_crimson_) was lurking there.


	5. The Magic Crimson Café

**Chapter 05 - The Magic Crimson Café**

As Sharon took the Shaw Avenue exit she was on edge. Sharon had managed to convince the gunslingers to conceal their weapons, but they were unable to promise that they would not take any lives. Of course, Sharon knew, that they couldn't make that kind of promise, but it didn't help her nerves. Like Susan, Sharon was not completely comfortable around guns, yet she had accepted the gunslingers for what they were.

Now that the group was actually in Fresno and drawing closer to The Magic Crimson Café Roland was completely alert. Thoughts of Sharon and Susan temporarily laid to rest. Roland knew he would have to be at his best today. Something was not right in the city of Fresno and they were drawing closer to the source of the problem.

When they finally reached their destination Roland immediately knew that trouble was brewing. Jake was the one who voiced it first. "Something's wrong here… Where's everyone else?"

Roland reached for his gun and Sharon shook her head. "Not yet." Roland reluctantly removed his hand from the butt of his gun. It took Eddie a second to take the whole scene in. The parking lot to The Magic Crimson Café and the adjacent mall were completely deserted. Eddie looked back toward the street. No cars. Not one. Eddie was sure that there were other cars on the road less than a minute ago before they turned into the parking lot. Now it was empty. It was as if the entire city of Fresno had been abandoned. Eddie half expected to see a tumbleweed roll across the parking lot toward them, just like in the spaghetti westerns he used to watch with Henry at the Majestic.

"Roland?" Roland ignored Eddie's voice and continued to stare in the direction of the ominous bookstore. Sharon looked at the gunslingers, then back at The Magic Crimson Café. She hesitated momentarily and then spoke. "Lets go." There was no indication of uncertainty in Sharon's voice as she met Roland's eyes. Roland nodded, first to Sharon, then to the rest of the ka-tet. They started walking toward the bookstore, tension increasing. Sharon tried the door and it opened easily. She held it open for the gunslingers and let herself in last. There was a table in the middle of the small bookstore with tall piles of books by the author Richard Ivan Freeburg. Only, the title of these books was not Roland's Journey but The Gunslinger's Journey and the cover had changed too. There was no longer the silhouette which resembled Roland, but a desolate mountain range in its place. The bookstore was otherwise as empty as the street outside. Then Sharon saw it, a second after Roland did. A book. A single book with a familiar cover. A book entitled Roland's Journey. Sharon walked over to it, the lone book lay on a dusty counter apart from all the other books. As Sharon drew closer she could feel the evil energy from the book pushing her away. It was like trying to force two magnets together at their polar opposite ends. Although the opposing force was strong, martial arts taught Sharon nothing if not discipline. She cleared her mind and used all of her concentration to grab the book with both hands.

Just then a gaunt man appeared from out of the back room of the store. Sharon could see a red dot in the middle of the man's forehead as he approached her. Terror griped Sharon and before he had a chance to speak she hit him across the face with the book. The gaunt man was still standing, but not for long. Sharon hit him across the other side of the face and continued to bludgeon him with the book even after he had hit the floor. The book made her feel strong, powerful. She couldn't stop. She didn't _want_ to stop. Whack! Whack! Whack! Each new sound of the book hitting flesh only fueled her on. When the sound changed from dry to wet, like beating a wet tee-shirt with a stick, Sharon felt a queer sense of ecstasy that was previously unbeknownst to her.

"Forget not the face of your father!" Roland bellowed the only thing he could think of to say. Roland could tell from the moment he met Sharon that she had never taken a life he wanted to spare her that burden. The words did not register with Sharon. She was in the grips of evil and was in need of something stronger than words. Roland drew his gun and fired a single shot into the ceiling, but it was the second shot that brought Sharon back to herself. Roland looked back in time to see Eddie reholstering his gun. The bullet grazed Sharon's right wrist as she was in mid swing.

Sharon stopped, frozen, almost as if she was in some kind of trance. The book fell from her hands as her grip simply loosened. A sound like thunder echoed through the virtually empty room as the book hit the floor. Sharon blinked, she was finally able to see what she had done. Blood covered her hands, the carpet, the book, the man. Though he should have been in pain he was smiling.

"Abandon your quest for the Dark Tower. You are too late to save it." Roland again drew his gun. "The rose will soon fall, the Tower will crumble." The gaunt stranger added. Roland pulled the trigger, tearing a new hole in the man's forehead where the bleeding eye used to be. The sound of the shot alarmed Sharon and her breath caught in her chest. She finally recognized that she was in a great deal of pain and grabbed her wrist. The scene before her was practically incomprehensible. Susannah rolled over to Sharon to comfort her and was just in time to see the strange man's body disappear. Sharon's eyes were wide, unbelieving. She held out her bloodstained hands in front of her.

"Sugar? You alright?" Susannah's voice was a gentle hum. Tears gleamed in Sharon's eyes and her hands trembled as she looked up at Susannah. Susannah embraced Sharon, letting her rest her head on her lap. The rest of the ka-tet looked around mystified.

"Now what Roland, where do we go from here?" Eddie was genuinely baffled. If this wasn't the reason they were brought to this world, then what? Roland just shook his head as he looked at Sharon. He was unable to save her. Roland could fool himself into thinking that if Eddie were not there that he would have been the one to stop Sharon's onslaught, but the truth was laid out before him. He shot first and if he were ever going to pierce Sharon's skin with a bullet it would have been with that first shot. Like so many truths in Roland's life it was a harsh reality that he hated to admit but was helpless to deny.

Roland was still lost in thought when Sharon spoke. "The Rose Petal Inn." Sharon surprised everyone by speaking. She looked up and met Roland's gaze with her own. Sharon stood up still holding her injured wrist. "I know where we have to go next. The Rose Petal Inn." Silence. Sharon looked drained and she was unsteady on her feet, but her voice was even as she continued. "I saw it. When I had the book in my hands, when I hit him with it." Sharon weakly gestured to where the agent of the crimson king had once been, without looking. "Anyway, I can't explain how I know this, but I do. We have to go to The Rose Petal Inn. Something catastrophic is going to happen there. Something that may destroy the Tower." The group needed no further convincing. As they left the bookstore Sharon did look back and what she saw barely registered with her. The books on the table had changed somehow. The Gunslinger the title had read, not The Gunslinger's Journey. And the author had changed too. The new author read Stephen King. This had to be significant in some way but Sharon didn't know how. Soon they were on the road again.


	6. The Rose Petal Inn

**Chapter 06 - The Rose Petal Inn**

On the way to The Rose Petal Inn they stopped only once so Sharon could clean up and attend to her wounds. Even though she was in pain she couldn't wait to leave that horrible desolate parking lot. The stench of evil was still in the air and she wanted to get as far away as possible. Sharon let Eddie drive, she was in no position to do so herself. The rest stop in which they stopped was a good twenty miles from The Magic Crimson Café yet the roads were still deserted and the sun did not seem to move in the sky at all. The group was silent. Not even Oy would utter so much as a whimper.

After she had cleaned up a bit Sharon pulled the map out of her glove compartment. After inspecting it for a few minutes Sharon announced that the hotel was only about thirty miles away. She resumed her place behind the driver's seat and in no time they were on their way. Under normal circumstances the drive would have taken no more than half an hour, especially when there are no other cars on the road. However, it seemed to take hours to get there and if it wasn't for the scenery passing outside Sharon would have sworn that they were not moving at all. Of course calculating the actual time was impossible because the clock in Sharon's car had stopped working. _Time is a face on the water_.

A mile or so from the inn Eddie spotted the first real sign of life since they pulled into the bookstore parking lot. Wild roses. A whole field of them. And just past that field, cars. Other cars driving to and from random destinations. Other cars passing them on the road. They were no longer in the twilight zone. "Roland do you see?" Eddie said excitedly.

"Aye Eddie, I see them very well." Roland responded earnestly. Sharon finally turned into the large hotel parking lot. The group waited in anticipation as Sharon drove them up the long driveway to the entrance of The Rose Petal Inn. The inn was actually much larger than the name would suggest. It was a nineteen story fully functioning hotel. The tall building had tinted rose-colored glass on the upper floors while the outside stucco walls of the building were painted in a pale fading pink. A wooden sandwich board announced the nineteenth annual book convention, "Open to the public! Three days only!"

Sharon looked back at her passengers as she pulled up to the curb. "Why don't you guys get out here and see if you can get us a room." Sharon pulled a rectangular piece of plastic out of her back pocket and handed it to Susannah. "Here. Put it on my credit card. Will you sign for me Susannah? Don't worry, they wont ask for id." Susannah nodded and they exited the car. Roland stated that he would keep Sharon company and the others entered the hotel.

The parking lot of The Rose Petal Inn was a huge, hilly outdoor lot. Apparently the book convention was a pretty popular event because almost every single parking space was full. Sharon had to drive clear to the end of the lot, about a half-mile from the hotel, before she found a space. As Sharon and Roland exited the car Roland spotted something unusual. Three people (_low men_) came walking toward them from a few rows down. Before Sharon was able to comprehend what was going on Roland had shot all three of them. He hit each one in the forehead, where the bleeding eye would have been. Sharon grabbed Roland by the wrist and led him into the tall grass beside the parking lot.

"What was that? You can't just shoot people in broad daylight." Sharon was panicked, not sure what to do.

"They weren't people. You know that."

Sharon did know that, even as people from inside the hotel came out to where they heard the gunshots, she knew that the bodies would already be gone just like the guy in the bookstore. Sharon looked down at her own hands and even though they were clean now she saw the blood that had been there not long ago. She knew that they would see the blood. There might not be much, but they would see something. "I know that they were not people. But Roland, what were they?" Sharon's voice was calmer than she expected it to be.

"Agents of the crimson king. Low men." Roland was watching the crowd that had started to gather in the parking lot.

Sharon touched his arm. "Come on, we need more cover." They crawled deeper into the wild grass beside the nearly full parking lot. "We just have to wait it out. There are no bodies, so there is no proof of a crime. But it may be a while before things calm down." They needed to hide, wait for the commotion to die down. The parking lot was filling rapidly by scared onlookers who heard the gunshots. It wouldn't be long before the local police came. Luckily it doesn't seem as though anyone noticed Roland or Sharon slip out of sight.


	7. Saying Goodbye

**Chapter 07 – Saying Goodbye**

As they lay in the grass Roland and Sharon could scarcely make out someone familiar trudging down the hill. It was Jake with Oy at his hills. Jake was only there for a few seconds before he made his way back up to the hotel. In the lobby of the inn Eddie and Susannah were waiting for him. "They're okay. Lets go to the room." As it turns out there was one room available. Room 1919, on the nineteenth floor. The hotel was eerily quiet. It seems every one of its patrons had gone outside to explore the gunshots. As they entered the elevator Susannah could see the first flashes of red and blue lights from the police cars pulling into the hotel parking lot.

Up in the room Jake told Suze and Eddie that he had used the touch to see what happened. Jake told them that Roland shot some low men and that there were probably more in the hotel. In fact he knew there were more. He could feel them. Anyway, Roland and Sharon had to wait out the commotion. "Wait a minute! Lets just go get them. We have things to do!" Eddie demanded.

"Eddie honey, we'd only draw attention to them." Susannah grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"So…"

"So, we wait." Jake finished, staring out the window.

* * *

Roland and Sharon crawled further back into the thick grass in order to increase their cover. What they needed was a plan. Luckily the mob had begun to disperse when they realized there was nothing to see. Still, Roland and Sharon had to wait for the police and the rest of the bystanders to leave. 

"Roland what do we do now?" The weight of the day had begun to catch up with Sharon. The anxiety had left her but she looked exhausted. Roland found it difficult to meet her eyes. He kept thinking about not being able to save her at the coffee house. "Roland…?"

"Cry your pardon. My mind was elsewhere." Roland responded, still reluctant to look at Sharon, still not fully there with her.

"Roland, I don't know what happened to me back there… at the bookstore. I remember feeling an evil energy coming from that book. I don't know why I was compelled to touch it. Part of me was repulsed, but another part…"

"Was excited." Roland was finally able to give Sharon his undivided attention. He heard the pain and fear in her voice. He reluctantly met her gaze with his own.

"How…?" Sharon was shocked and confused. She was trying to piece together the morning's events to make some sort of sense out of what was going on.

"Because I have known the effect of glamour." Roland noticed Sharon examining her hands and realized that she looked a little pale. "Don't bother yourself with details. What happened this morning was not your fault. Dwelling on the past won't get us any closer to the tower."

Sharon winced and looked up at Roland with doe's eyes. In that moment Roland would swear that he was looking at Susan. Roland sometimes forgot how harsh he could be yet he did not know how to be any other way. The years had hardened him, yet his heart ached.

"Su… Sharon…" Roland had never been good with words and could not think of anything to say, so he said the only thing he could. "Cry your pardon." Roland lowered his head in a makeshift bow.

Sharon recognized the gesture for what it was and she was moved. "Roland." Sharon lightly touched his hand. Roland looked up. "Roland, you're right. Lets see if the coast is clear."

* * *

Roland and Sharon snuck back toward the parking lot for another peek at the crowd. The parking lot was practically deserted. Apparently the police wrote the incident off as a practical joke and the horde of onlookers lost interest shortly after that. Of course it was impossible to tell exactly how much time had gone by, time had grown soft. Roland touched Sharon's arm and smiled. Words were not necessary. Sharon returned his smile and they headed toward the hotel together. 

Inside, they bypassed the registration desk and went straight for the elevators. Roland seemed to know which room they would get, Sharon didn't bother asking how. In the elevator Sharon picked strands of grass out of her hair and started braiding it. The same way Susan used to, Roland thought. As they approached room 1919 Eddie opened the door and let them in. "It's about time!" Eddie exclaimed. Roland recounted what happened and inquired about what the others had found out.

"There are definitely more low men here and we think they will strike sometime tomorrow during the book convention." Jake stated.

"There will be a lot of famous authors here, maybe it has something to do with one of them." Eddie added. "Do you think it has something to do with that Richard Ivan Freeburg guy?"

"Its not him." Roland responded disinterestedly. He was trying to make sense of it all.

"Stephen King." Sharon resounded. Her face had lost some of its color.

"What?" Everyone inquired almost collectively.

"I'm sure of it. We are here to save him. Stephen King is somehow connected to the Dark Tower." Sharon told of the books she had seen when they left the bookstore earlier including the change of title and author.

"On a hunch I signed us up to volunteer at the convention tomorrow. It was the only way I could think of to give us access without drawing too much attention to ourselves." Jake mentioned. Eddie ruffled his hair and gave him a 'thumbs up'. The group discussed their game plan for the next day and decided to get some sleep. Eddie and Susannah took one of the twin beds while Roland insisted that Sharon take the other. Jake and Roland slept on the floor. This time Roland had no trouble falling asleep, his mind and body were both exhausted.

* * *

The next day everyone was up by dawn going over their plan, getting ready. The previous night Sharon had washed her white blouse in the sink, trying to get rid of the blood and grass stains the best she could. It was no use though. She woke up early and went to the hotel gift shop to buy a new shirt. At least she looked presentable now, not too disheveled for a book convention volunteer. As for the others… Well, Sharon just hoped they wouldn't draw too much attention to themselves. She washed their clothes along with her own, but still the gunslingers stood out. They didn't quite fit in. Well no time to worry about that now. It was time to focus on the plan. Be on the lookout for low men, agents of the crimson king. Roland and Sharon agreed to hand out nametags that way they could keep an eye on everyone that came in. Eddie and Susannah signed up to be Mr. King's personal assistants for the day. No one was going to get by them. And Jake was on reconnaissance. His job was to tie up any loose ends. Unfortunately for this mission Oy would have to stay in Sharon's car. He would just draw too much attention to the group and that was not what they needed. They could not leave him in the room because if things went down the way Roland expected them to, they would have to make a fast get away.

The plan went as follows: Whenever Roland spotted one of the low men he would have Sharon escort them to where Eddie and Suze were waiting to quietly dispose of them. At least that was what was supposed to happen. Roland knew that few things go as smoothly as planned and this plan went just about as wrong as a plan can go. Everything happened within the blink of an eye. A group of about twenty low men entered all at once. They carried guns of their own and made no effort to conceal them. They headed straight for the author Stephen King, who would have been an easy mark if not for the gunslingers waiting for them. Susannah and Eddie opened fire before the low men had a chance. Roland took out eight from the back. Sharon had jumped over the table and kicked a gun out of one guy's hand who had a clear shot at Mr. King. Roland shot another one. Sharon ducked instinctively as a bullet whizzed past her head. Unfortunately another bullet ripped through her chest. Roland easily killed the one who shot Sharon. Jake took out two from his hiding spot under a distant table and Susannah and Eddie took out the rest.

Most of the patrons of the book convention had scattered like birds as soon as the shooting started. A few remained hiding under tables frozen with terror and incomprehension. Roland went to Sharon's side and the others followed. One look at the wound in Sharon's chest told them that she did not have much time left. Oy came up to the group, seemingly out of nowhere. Apparently he had found a way out of the car. Oy went over to Sharon and began licking her face. Sharon opened her eyes. She groaned in pain and Roland kneeled beside her.

"My bag…" Sharon was wearing a shoulder bag and bade the gunslinger open it. The bag was empty, save for a single rose. It was the same pink wild rose that had been in Sharon's apartment. As Roland held the rose Sharon began to speak. "A week to the day before you arrived I saw this rose growing out of the sidewalk. It was so beautiful, I had never seen another rose like it. I had to take it home." Tears had welled up in Jakes eyes. Sharon's words were labored but she pressed onward. "As you can see it hasn't wilted at all even though it had been without water for the last couple days. I know now that it was this rose that brought you here and this rose that will take you back."

Roland gently put a finger to Sharon's lips to silence her. He did not want her to waist any undue energy. Yet Sharon struggled to speak before it was to late. When Roland removed his finger Sharon smiled and spoke with wisdom beyond her years. "Roland, in all my lives I have loved only you. Though I may die a thousand deaths, I have never blamed you for my fate."

Roland felt tears sting his own eyes. He grabbed Susan's hand (for he was sure it was Susan who spoke to him just now) and said the goodbye he never had the chance to utter all those years ago in Mejis. "Susan, I… Thank you." He bent forward and kissed Susan's forehead, whispered that he loved her too, and watched her close her eyes for the last time.

Oy whined and buried his head in his paw. Tears were streaming down Jakes face. Eddie had his arm around Susannah and they were both looking at Roland with grave expressions.

They had protected the Tower, they had protected the White, but another innocent person had died for their quest. _His_ quest. Roland turned toward his ka-tet. They gathered around the rose and just as the local police were approaching the Rose Petal Inn for the second time in two days, the gunslingers were on their way back to their own world.

**The End**


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